Georgy Saradzhev
Georgy Saradzhev was a Soviet and Armenian pianist, teacher, and composer. Born in Moscow, he graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory in 1942, where he studied piano with Professor S. I. Savshinsky.
From 1944, Saradzhev taught at the Yerevan Conservatory. He became head of its special piano department in 1964 and a professor in 1966. He was one of the founders of a new Armenian piano school.
With V. V. Umr-Shat, he wrote the two-volume School of Piano Playing, published in Yerevan in 1973 and 1978. Shushanik Apoyan described it as the first Armenian piano method, based mainly on national musical material. His works include a 1965 trio for violin, cello, and piano; Twelve Pieces on Armenian Folk Themes (1957); and Twenty Pieces (1976). He also arranged works by Sayat-Nova, Komitas, A. Tigranyan, and A. Ter-Gevondyan.
Saradzhev was named Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR in 1953 and Honored Art Worker of the Armenian SSR in 1974. He received the Order of the Badge of Honor. He died in Yerevan in 1986.